X-com: Humanity's Stand
by Scope.V
Summary: After a sudden attack from an alien threat, the council agrees to activate the X-com Project to be the Earth's lead on defence. Being lead by Commander Orion they must fight against the alien threat and human forces for their planets survival but could their planet already be doomed.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

'**Those who play with the devil's toys, will be brought by degrees to wield his sword'**

"To Kevin!" A group of guys shouted as they clinked their drinks together.

"Ha-ha, thanks guys" A white man with a buzzcut and black hair said.

"You shouldn't thank us; we're celebrating getting rid of you" A blond haired guy called Chuck said.

Kevin gave him a mock glare.

"We're just messing but, but really, we're happy for you" A Ginger guy called Sam said.

"Yeah man, engaged at 27, we all wish you the best" The Chuck said.

"Thanks guys, I've known you all since school and having you guys with me for my wedding, it's like it has all come full circle" Kevin said.

"Alright, enough with the sappy stuff, we're in Paris for your stag do, let's get on with it huh" A second black haired guy said called David.

"Hell yes" the guys shouted as they began drinking more on their private bar on a balcony.

"Hey guys look, shooting stars, make a wish" A Bald guy called Ryan suggested.

They looked up to see several great orange lights flying though the sky "Ha none of us believe stuff like that Ry" Chuck laughed with the others.

"I do, and I wish for a long and happy marriage" Kevin said looking at the Stars.

"Course you would" Sam said with a chuckle.

"Hey guys, is it just me or are they getting closer" David said pointing to the objects.

Everyone looked closely and all came to the same realization.

"They are aren't they" Ryan said shocked.

"Really close" Chuck said.

"Oh shit!" Kevin shouted as they flew past and smashed into the street below shocking everyone.

"Come on let's go look" Sam said, and they all stood up a ran down the street to the nearest one.

They passed through massive crowds till they got close to the object, with was a strange shape a kind of circular shape in the middle with four jagged legs on each side and it glowed green.

"Hey Ryan, what is it" Kevin asked his friend.

"It's not like anything I've ever seen, I would have guessed a satellite but it's not like one I've ever seen" Ryan replied.

One of the people who surrounded the object stepped towards it and reached out his hand "Hey man don't do that" Chuck said but the French person didn't understand and touched the object.

For a few second nothing happened then suddenly slots opened on the device and little nozzles came out and sprayed a green mist that stared enveloping people.

Everyone ran as fast at the could but the green mist was faster, Kevin looked behind as he ran and noticed Chuck had fallen over and David was helping him get up, the green mist enveloped them and started dragging them towards the device, Kevin turned and ran trying to ignore the screams around him.

He noticed that Sam and Ryan had vanished, he had no idea where they had gone but all he knew was to keep running, everything hurt but he kept going then suddenly another of those objects crashed in front of him knocking him back.

Kevin tried to get up but he felt something wrapping around him, he looked down his body to see a second green mist enveloping his legs and moving up his body, he tried to scramble but it was too strong, he was being dragged towards the device, he desperately reached for something to grab hold to but there was nothing but the screams of people in the same situation as him.

Closer and Closer he went, fear had taken over, a tear slipped down his face as he screamed for help, as he tried to claw himself away he glance as his engagement ring and more tears slid down his face "No…Ahhhhhhh" he screamed as the machine released a green web like substance enveloping his body in a searing pain "HELP MEEE!" Kevin tried to scream but his vocal cords were shredded and he could do nothing as his head was enveloped and his body cocooned in the green web.

* * *

The World had exploded into a panic with the Paris attack, news outlets were all trying to get new information and spreading amongst the world and the people questioning their leaders and demanding answers, others trying to reach family and friends who were in Paris.

Meanwhile, dark figures were gathering in a large circular room, in the centre was a circular desk with 17 Chairs all around, each space had a flag next to it representing the 16 Nations in attendance and a final space at the head of the desk for the speaker to sit.

"Ladies and Gentleman of the Council, you know why we are here today" The speaker said.

"My people have been attacked, in our capital city no less, I want to know what happened" The French representative exclaimed though his accent.

"Councillor's as far as we know, these attacks originated from outside out solar system" The Speaker said pressing a button on his desk so a large screen lit up on the wall of the chamber showing one of the objects which had descended.

"These items are Foreign in origin, no satellite by any mean, as I said they came from outside out solar system" The Speaker continued.

"What are you saying, are we under attack?" The American representative questioned.

"It is evident we are under attack, I want to know by whom" The UK representative said.

"How long before other countries are attacked, do I need to evacuate every major city centre within to avoid my people being killed" The German representative said.

"Councillors please calm down, nothing will be solved with panic; one thing is certain, whoever has sent these devices are a threat to our world, we are left with only one option" The Speaker began.

"It is time to activate the X-com project" The Speaker finished.

* * *

On an Island just of the coast of Japan, deep underground, a base began to come to life.

A large hangar opened to reveal a large dropship, and to advanced fighter craft. Circular corridors burst to life with lights and staff members who wore black trousers and green jackets darted around activating systems.

A massive workshop sprung to life with various machines and conveyor belts with an elderly gentleman wearing a green jacket and black trousers giving instructions; a highly advanced science lab lit up and scientists starting preparing the labs and other tools located within, all directed by a woman brown head lady in her late thirties wearing a lab coat and black trousers.

In a large central room officers were activating various consoles and other systems, soon enough in the centre surrounded by consoles in a square shape a blue globe appeared highlighting all the countries by various colours, a man wearing a green long sleeved shirt and black trousers and a comm in his ear walked up to it and was soon accompanied by a second man wearing the same but with stripes on his right shoulder.

The comm man turned to the other "Commander, X-com is up and running"


	2. Chapter 1 - First Contact

**First Contact**

With X-com now fully active, everyone was scrambling about the first order of business; in investigating the Alien incursion in Paris.

"Central, what's the status on the troops" Commander Orion asks. Orion was a tall man of about 6'1, he had extremely short black hair which complimented his white clean-shaven face.

"Commander, we have one squad ready to move out, but all the others are still on route" Central informed.

"Get them in the sky ranger and get them to Paris, I want to know who we are dealing with" Orion ordered.

"Yes sir" Central said touching his Comm.

* * *

An hour later, a squad of four were in the sky ranger about to land at the mission site.

"Central, this is big sky, we have reached the AO" The pilot Big Sky said over the comm.

"Roger Big Sky, Alpha squad is clear to deploy, remember we have no idea what to expect here so recon first, all civilians have been evacuated so you are free to focus on your mission." Central said over the comm as the ship settled down.

"Alright, squad check your gear we have no idea what to expect so I don't want any mistakes" The Squad leader said through his American accent.

The leader was Colonel Ray Temple, an older gentleman or about 40, he had a buzzcut hair style, Brown eyes with a white face and some small stubble which showed his age.

"Colonel, what should we do if there is contact?" one of the younger troops asked, Alpha Four, the colonel looked at him 'blond hair, a young face, he couldn't be older than 20, and this could be a war we are about to enter' he thought.

"If anything moves down their shoot it, there are no civilians around and whatever attacked us isn't friendly"

"Yes sir" The Colonel looked at his troops, Alpha Squad, in their green Kevlar amour, they all wore the same helmets now, yellow visor a mouth piece which was just a square shape made up of many holes and a light on the left side of the helmet; so he couldn't tell what they were feeling but he could guess, very scared.

As the ramp opened all four stepped out and took immediate over "Alpha squad advance… slowly, keep your eyes out for anything suspicious" The Colonel ordered, and they all nodded and began to slowly advance up the street.

The street its self didn't seem very bad, aside from the empty cars and streets, it wasn't chaotic with fires and bodies mounted up but then they saw it.

"Sir, it's one of the devices" Alpha Three said.

The device now seemed dormant but all around were about a dozen or so bodies all cocooned in a green substance "Jesus…" Alpha Two muttered.

"Central, we have eyes on a device, are we clear to approach?" The Colonel asked.

"You are clear Alpha One but be careful we don't fully understand these things yet" Central responded.

"We copy… Okay Alpha Two and Three keep an eye out, Alpha Four with me" The colonel ordered as he and Alpha Four advanced on the device.

The Colonel and Alpha Four slowly walked towards the device, for Colonel Ray it felt like the longest walk of his life, he may have given out the impression that he was a fearless leader, but he was as human as every other member of his squad and he was afraid.

Thoughts ran through his head as he stepped closer and closer to the machine 'What if it activates, will we become like these people, how should I react, what should I do' he took another step 'What will they tell my daughter' two more steps 'You father died by getting to close to an alien device' another two steps 'She'll be alone' One more step, the Colonel had become so caught up he hadn't noticed he was a mere half an arm's reach from the device.

He took a shaky breath which he hoped no one noticed and put his right hand to his ear, "Central, this is Alpha One, device appears to be dormant"

"Copy Alpha one, you're the closest we've got to this things and the body camera's acting a bit patchy, what can you tell us about it from your eyes" Central responded quickly.

"It's no satellite or just some debris that's for sure, it looks more like a container of some sort, there a few slots on the outside, primarily on the four leg like structures, they must have released whatever was inside the device" The Colonel reported.

"Any traces of what was in the device Alpha One" Central asked.

"Probably whatever did this to these people" Alpha Four said taking a knee next to a cocooned body "Poor people were trying to claw themselves away, probably terrified"

The Colonel joined him on the other side of the cocooned body "Central, anything we can do for these people"

"As of right now, securing the area is the top priority, after that we will do all we can to help the cocooned people" Central responded.

"But sir, these are living people in here…" Alpha Four began.

"Lance Corporal think about it, if we got these people out now, they would only become an obstacle in our mission, once we secure the area, we will be back for them as Central said" The Colonel cut him off.

"Yes sir" Alpha Four replied slowly standing up, as he stood, he noticed the ring a few centimetres from the body's hand "Jesus…" He muttered before returning his focus to the mission.

"Sir, I got movement in the restaurant across the street" Alpha Two said over the Comm.

"Copy, Alpha Two and Three circle around the alley to the right of the restaurant, myself and Alpha Four will go through the front" The Colonel ordered.

Quickly Alpha Two and Three disappeared down the alley "in position Sir, waiting on your order".

The Colonel took a moment to admire the swiftness of his team, no questions just immediate movement to the job at hand "Copy, stand by" The Colonel said as he and Alpha Four darted up to the door and stood either side, careful not to stand in view of the large windows on either side, luckily there was some brick work which stood as an archway for the door that they could use for cover "Alpha Two, we moving in now be ready to move" The Colonel said and was responded by a swift "Yes sir".

The Colonel gave a swift nod to Alpha Four, who understood, he reached for the door and gently started pushing it open before the colonel stopped him and indicated upwards to a little bell that was used to alert staff of a new customer, carefully, the Colonel reached up and took hold of the bell allowing Alpha Four to push the door open and slowly step in, the Colonel slowly lowered the bell and slid a dropped plate under the door to prop it open then joined Alpha Four.

They swiftly scanned the room filled with abandoned tables, chairs and food and saw nothing was there, The Colonel gave a two finger point to the kitchen area and Alpha Four nodded, again they stood either side of the door but before they moved in Alpha Four leaned his head to the door and listened, the Colonel then did the same.

They could hear scratching sounds and some strange clicks coming from the other side of the door, they looked at each other in confusion before they refocused, and the Colonel held up three fingers and slowly counted them down…3…2…1.

He then gradually creeped open the door making it as quiet as possible when it was about a quarter pushed, he could see most of the kitchen area and what he could see made his breath catch in his throat.

Four small figures crouched around a cocooned body, these things were probably just over a metre in height, small and feeble looking grey skinned bodies but what stood out was their heads, they were massive, attached to that were some large oval shaped Orange eyes but they had no mouths just a weird rectangular shape down where the mouth should be, their chest glowed yellow and has a large pot belly; on their right arm they all a strange looking device emanating a green light, from that their hands were small but their fingers we long and thin making them look more like claws than anything.

The Colonel snapped from his trance and raised his rifle up and took aim at the aliens, he slowly creeped the door open and stepped into the room in a crouched position, none noticed him, he used his foot to hold the door open for Alpha Four to step in after him, he never took his eyes of the Aliens and just used the feeling of the weight of the door being taken to guess when Alpha Four had come through.

He shifted himself across the room till he was behind a fridge, he quickly glanced over at Alpha Four who had just about frozen just as he had, but unlike him Alpha Four wasn't moving nor was he crouched down, he stood there in a standing position watching the Alien creatures, if he didn't move he would give away their position but The Colonel couldn't tell him through words as that too would alert the creatures.

Carefully, The Colonel started moving back over to Alpha Four, as he edged closer he reached out his hand and grabbed the soldier left shoulder and gave it a little shake but he did not move, he tried again but still nothing only on the third attempt did Alpha Four acknowledge him, he turned his head and looked at his commanding officer, and nodded his head and began to crouch down.

The Colonel was about to breathe a sigh of relief but he dared not, he understood the soldiers fear, he was going through it too, even breathing was hard as he feared that any noise would alert them, he creeped a look at the creatures who were still busy with the subject on the floor to notice them.

He then crept his way back to the fridge and knelt behind it then he rested against it, and finally took a shallow breath and got his thoughts together, he turned away from the creatures and leant against the fridge and prepared himself, he looked over at Alpha Four who seemed to do the same, The Colonel waited for the trooper to look at him and once he did he help out five fingers and began to count them down, 5…4…3…2….1.

The both spun round their respective corners aiming down their sights too lock in the Aliens, but they were gone, no sound, no noise of any kind, just gone; a look of confusion was shared between the both but then it happened.

A green light illuminated the dark kitchen, time seemed to freeze, The Colonel watched as a green burst flew from one of the Aliens as it spun around the opposite counter, the blast flew towards Alpha Four at an astounding speed an impacted him dead on the chest. The man went flying back into a wall completely limp as he collapsed onto the floor.

The Colonels instincts immediately kicked in, he moved back and re-spun to behind the fridge as a blast flew just passed him and impacted a wall leaving a massive burn mark and crumbling the wall slightly, he peaked around the corner to see the door that Alpha Two and Three were behind before another blast came out and this on hit the fridge smashing the doors off.

"Alpha Two and Three, move in, contacts will be right Infront of you; Alpha Four is down" The Colonel barked over the radio, while the Aliens were distracted with him, they were in a perfect flanking position.

"Moving Sir" Alpha Two said over the comm, he then heard the door kick open and rifle fire began. He looked to see Alpha Three lay rounds into one of the creatures making it gush out a green blood, he then saw a second turn to take aim at Alpha Three, so he swiftly took aim and nailed the creature in its oversized head spurting more green blood.

"Clear" Alpha Three said.

"Form up" The Colonel ordered.

Alpha Two and Three, moved up to him "Two X-rays down sir" Alpha Two reported.

"There were four, fan out and search they can't have gotten far" The Colonel ordered.

Alpha Two nodded and headed for the door, Alpha Three looked at the corpse of Alpha Four "It was a swift death, he felt no pain, honour him by killing the things that did this to him" The Colonel said to which Alpha Three nodded.

"AHHHH!" They heard a scream and charged to the door and what they saw was horrifying.

The two remaining creatures had attack Alpha two, one had shot his leg while the second had pushed him against a dumpster knocking his weapon away, the creature was slicing at him with its sharp claws knocking off his helmet showing his terrified face as a claw came down slaking him and slashing blood across his amour and his black hair but he was still alive.

The Colonel and Alpha Three raised their weapons to shoot but the second creature shot at them making them dive into cover as it lay down suppression, they were just able to look out to see Alpha two and the creature which continued to slash him cutting open his amour with almost ease, he tried to push it off but he had lost a lot of blood and was too weak so could only watch as the thing smashed it's hands into his stomach and ripped it outwards trailing his intestines across the floor.

The creature slashed more and more as Alpha Two continued screaming till it seemed to be fed up with his noise and slashed three claws across his throat splitting it wide allowing more blood to gush from this new would as a gurgling sound came out form his ripped vocal cords and some blood splatted our form the attempted noise covering the Alien in his blood in a sadistic way.

They two remaining troopers could only watch in horror as his gurgling sounds came to an end and a movement stopped as Alpha Two finally died; Alpha Three came out from the corner and sprayed a wave of bullets at the two creatures killing the one which had ruthlessly killed Alpha Two but missed the second which was able to get its bearings and lined up a shot and fired.

The Colonel darted out to try and save the trooper, but he was just too slow as it impacted Alpha Three sending him back into the arms of The Colonel who fell to the ground with the added weight on top of him which also knocked his rifle away.

The final creature walked over to him probably to make sure the job was finished, the Colonel desperately reached for his rifle but it was just out of his reach as his fingertips grazed the side of the weapon "Come on, Come on" he begged, wishing his fingers could grow longer.

He couldn't push the corpse of Alpha Three off him as it was the only thing separating him from the Aliens shot, the creature had to get close to finish the job. He still reached as the small creature scuttled closer and closer.

It all dawned on the Colonel as he watched this Alien get closer and closer, those thoughts he was having when he approached the Alien item, they were coming back and this time for definite, he could not stop this, every other member of his team was dead, no back up, just the two of them and the other had him in his sights.

He reached once more but with no luck, he then saw a pair of grey feet stop Infront of him, he was scared but he looked up to see the creature was now looking down at him, he swallowed the lump in his throat as it's soulless eyes watched him with no readable expression, it raised its weapon to take aim at The Colonels head. 'This is it' he though as he closed his eyes and awaited his end, then in a moment of hope he glanced down the body of Alpha three to see his sidearm within reach, in his fear he forgot about the standard issue secondary firearm.

He heard the Aliens weapon charging so he had to act fast, his right hand darted and grabbed the side arm quickly pulling it from the slot and didn't even aim, he swung it upwards to where the Alien was and smashed his finger to the trigger repeatedly till a clicking sound was heard.

He peeped open an eye as saw the Creature was no longer above him, but now sprawled on the ground bleeding, a smile played on The Colonels lips. He gently pushed himself from under Alpha Three the gently set the dead trooper down; he grabbed his rifle and looked at the Alien which was still barely alive, he smashed his boot into its chest and looked down at it, he gave no chance, he aimed the rifle at its head and fired splashing green blood all over the floor.

He moved his boot and looked around, he then collapsed to the floor, and threw up though he was relieved it was finally over, but in his heart, he knew, this was just the beginning.

The Colonel reached his right ear and pressed him comm "Central this is Alpha One, all X-ray neutralized"

"Copy that Alpha One, grab all the equipment and bodies you can and bring it back to base" Central said.

"Copy Central, Alpha One out" The Colonel said as he started his job of picking up the pieces.


	3. Chapter 2 - Introductions

**Introductions**

"Central, this is Big Sky, we have returned to bases with Alpha One, Casualties and High Value Cargo" The Pilot said over the comm.

"Copy Big Sky" Central said as he walked over to the commander "Sir Alpha One has returned to base"

"Thank you Central, I want Alpha One to give me a full de-brief, all Alien materials down to Dr. Vahlen in the lab for immediate Analysis and all our casualties documented before we send them off to their families, I want to know what weapons we are up against" The Commander Ordered.

"Yes Sir" Central was about to walk off when he got an alert on his comm "Thank you; Sir, the rest of the squads have just arrived"

"Send them down to the barracks, but hold on Dr. Vahlen Autopsying the recovered bodies, I want all our new frontline soldiers to be in attendance for it" The Commander revised his orders.

"Yes sir" Central responded before heading to the hangar.

* * *

The Colonel was sat forward in his chair in the Sky Ranger, he'd just spent a 30-minute journey which to him felt like days, in a small room with his squad, his dead squad, and four Alien corpses.

When he heard from Big Sky that they had reached the base and begun decent, he felt happy that he would soon be out of that small space, he kept looking over the several white covers hiding his dead squad and Aliens; Not only did he feel awful about being unable to keep his squad alive, he was still trying to come to terms with how close he was to death, if he'd been maybe even a millisecond slower, he'd have joined everyone else under that white tarp.

He leaned forward and put his head in his hands wishing the shaking of the drop ship to stop, he felt the nauseating feeling returning, he closed his eyes and try to relax but the shaking didn't stop and all he could see was the dead troops that he could not save.

"Alpha One, are you okay" a familiar voice asked.

The Colonel looked up and saw Central looking over him, 'We must have set down while I was caught up with my horrifying thoughts' he thought before slowly standing up "Central, yes I'm fine just a bit shell shocked from the Op" he said looking over at the gurneys.

"I understand, the Commander wants an immediate de-brief, follow me to the situation room" Central said indicating after him.

The Colonel nodded and walked on after Central as Scientists and other uniforms walked into the Sky Ranger to unload the supplies and the Deceased.

* * *

"Colonel Ray Temple, first of all we are sorry for the loss of your squad" Commander Orion began.

"Thank you, sir, it's hard to forget those images" The Colonel said.

"We understand, but as the only survivor we need your report, what can you tell us happened through your eyes" Central asked.

The Colonel took a deep breath before answering "After we checked out the Alien capsule, we spotted movement in the nearby restaurant, we advanced on the building and when we saw what was inside, we were shocked but we still thought it would be easy, we couldn't be more wrong the damn things outsmarted us, before I knew it I'd lost a man, we fought them off but it wasn't over, as we chased the others…"

"Colonel is the next part referring to the…injuries sustained to Alpha Two" Commander Orion enquired.

"Yes sir, we could do nothing but watch as they ripped him apart, every time I close my eyes I see his bloodied face, I've never been scarred by something before sir, but what I saw happen I can never unsee" The Colonel revealed.

"We understand, can I move on to the retrieved items, we were under the impression that the Alien weapons were fully functioning, why do we only have pieces" Central asked.

"I believe the weapons have a self-destruct device, when I tried to retrieve the item it gave a small explosion as my hand neared it as if it could tell I wasn't it's owner" The Colonel reported.

"One more question, do you still feel within a fighting condition" Commander Orion asked.

"Yes sir, I may have been scarred by what I saw, but the looks as my men died is driving me to do better, I will never let it happen again, and I'll kill every Alien that gets in the way Sir" The Colonel revealed.

"Thank you Colonel, I will still request you see the base Psychiatrist as a precaution, I also want her view before I clear you for active duty" Commander Orion said and Central made a note on his pad.

"Understood sir" The Colonel said.

"We just had the new recruits arrive, I want you to be there with us to greet them, they need to know what to expect, then provided you are cleared for duty you'll be assigned to Strike One as lead, understood?" Commander Orion asked.

"Yes sir" The Colonel said.

* * *

Inside the barracks, around 60 people all dressed in civilian clothing were standing around making idle conversation though some could not understand others as the ensembled people were all from different countries.

"Alright, I'm fucking booored" and English voice said loudly turning heads to look at a white man leaning against his duffle bag. He had short brown hair which was slightly messy and untamed, wearing basic blue jeans and a long sleeved black shirt with some combat boots on he looked the most casual of all the presently gathered people, especially considering the gathered were meant to be the best from around the entire world he didn't seem to fit in.

"Who are you supposed to be anyway?" a tanned Australian woman with long black hair asked, she wore a red shirt and blue jeans and combat boots, she crossed her arms and stood over the man with and expected look in her blue eyes.

"Nicknames Snap, the most charming and lovable guy you'll ever meet" Snap said meeting the woman in red's blue eyes with his own hazel eyes and giving a cocky smile "And who would you be?".

"Just call me Vixen, Lieutenant Vixen" Vixen said looking menacingly at the cocky Snap expecting her rank to make him jump but his smile only increased.

"Please tell me Vixen is your codename cause I cannot take you serious if that's your last name" Snap remarked with a chuckle making Vixen give him a swift kick to the rips which made him yelp in pain and stand up and glare at her at his hight of 5'11.

"Break it up!" Commander Orion exclaimed entering the room flanked by Central and Colonel Temple "Fall in all of you!".

Upon that order all the gathered people ran to their bags and braced themselves up forming several equal lines, the three man walked past inspecting all the soldiers before the Commander took centre at the front of the gathered "I'm Commander Orion, now listen up, some of you may be wondering why you are here, and I'm going to clear that up for you right now… Earth is under attack, an unknown alien force has attacked us unprovoked" this rose murmurs between then before Orion snapped them back "you are the best of the best from all over the world, now being here you are the first and last line of defence against the oncoming threat so I expect you to act as a unified front and let any past issues go, you are defending the entire planet now and never forget that".

The Colonel looked over the assembled soldiers, a mix of young and old faces, different genders, races, sexes and religions all unified under one banner for the sake of their planet, he knew he should feel happy of the X-com project for unifying this many but he could shake the dead faces of his lost team and how many of these people in front of him may not be there by the end of it all.

Orion cleared his throat "Now, first and foremost X-com is a top secret organisation so when in the field you will be only be called by your codenames, callsigns or nicknames which ever you want to call them but never by your real name in the field, understood" he said and was met with a resounding 'Yes Sir' from the soldiers.

Central stepped forwards "Now when I say you name, grab your bag and form up on the wall behind me, these will be your assigned Strike teams going forward and is not up for any discussion".

Central opened his pad and started reading "Strike One, Major Aleksandrov 'Doc' Kashov" a 5'11 white black-haired man with blue eyes and a handlebar moustache grabbed his bag made his way to the assigned wall.

"Lieutenant Daphne 'Vixen' Siv" the 5'10 Vixen grabbed her gear and stood next to Doc.

"Sargent Matthew 'T-Rex' Gorden" a black 6-foot muscular built man with a beanie on and rough stubble on his face with dark eyes followed the other two members.

"Corporal Kyle 'Data' Pond" a 5'10 blond haired green-eyed white teen wearing glasses picked up his bag and followed.

"Corporal Reggie 'Tac' Silver" a 5'9 Asian man with dyed silver hair and brown eyes with a clean-shaven face bit down on the lollipop in his mouth and made his way over.

"And finally, Corporal C 'Snap' K?" Central said in a confused voice as Snap made his way over.

"Didn't think it'd be that easy did you" Snap said to the formed Strike One team with a grin on his face and a wink to Vixen who glared at him.

'Hmm, so he's the one I was warned about' Orion said looking at Snap then was cut from his thoughts by Central.

"Very well, you're Strike One" Central addressed the team as he handed Doc and small pad "this is instructions to get to your team's assigned room go there and await further instructions" the team nodded and went off following Doc.

Orion turned to the Colonel as Central assigned Strike Two "What do you think of your team?" he asked simply.

"I'm not too sure yet Commander, they look good individually except for Snap" The Colonel answered truthfully.

"I've been warned about him, read this over" Orion said handing the Colonel and folder "It's Snap's dossier, I feel you will be cleared so it'll help to read up about him, I'll also send you the rest of the teams dossiers for you to go over".

"Thank you, sir, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to the Psychiatrist office as per your request" The Colonel said with a salute.

"Very well" Orion said with his own salute and watched at the Colonel left.

* * *

Strike One entered their room through the heavy bulkhead door, the room was nothing fancy, three standard military beds either side of the room with trunks at the bottom of each for their stuff and a nightstand to the side. At the end of the room as another door which lead to the commanding officers room and to the right of it on far right wall was a tv with the X-com symbol flashing on it and some chairs facing it and lights ran along the ceiling lighting the room.

"Well this looks snug" Tac said with a Japanese accent as he made his way to the centre bed on the right side.

"At least you're not the only female Corporal" Vixen snapped at the younger man as she took the bottom left bed.

"No need to be aggressive Lieutenant" Doc said though a heavy Russian accent making his way to the top left bed.

"Yeah, we're all on the same team, no need to go biting heads off" T-Rex added with an American accent walking to the top right bed.

"And if it helps Vixen, I'll definitely be watching" Snap said taking the bottom right bed, throwing his duffle bag to the side, and laying on his bed with his hands behind his head watching Vixen.

"Oh, go fuck yourself Snap" she hissed at Snap.

"Oh, trust me, I will" he smirked back with a chuckle.

Data made his way over to the middle left bed and set his equipment not saying a word to the other members.

"You better start respecting your superiors Corporal" Vixen hissed at the mouthy brunette who was getting increasingly on her nerves.

"Oh relax a little Vixen, It's not like we're an actual military here, no need to be so anal about things… which is probably how you like it" Snap said the last part slightly under his breath but with a small chuckle but Vixen did hear.

"You disrespectful little prick" Vixen marched over to Snap and got in his face "how dare you mouth off to me like that, do you just have no respect".

Snap looked at the woman right in his face with a cocky smirk and pretended to think for a moment "Well, I've not been giving you the respect your complex feels it desires so to answer your question…no".

Vixen was about to retort when she was pulled away by Doc "Cool off Lieutenant he's getting in your head" he said to her before turning to Snap "And you need to shape up".

Snap did a mock salute before he let out a sigh "Relax I'm just having a bit of fun with the Lieutenant here" he said getting up and going to the trunk at the end of the bed and pulling out an X-com uniform which consisted of some sand coloured combat books, some dark green combat trousers and a short sleeved light shirt with the X-com symbol in the centre.

"I'm guessing these are out off duty uniforms?" Tac asked looking at his own set.

Doc opened the pad given to him by Central "They are, we are to put these on and await further instructions" he instructed pulling off his shirt.

"Oooooh Major, do I have that effect on you, I'm afraid I'll have to turn down your sudden advance" Snap said in a joking voice only to be met with a boot being thrown at him knocking him back a bit.

"Snap shut up and get ready for god's sake" The much larger T-rex ordered at his mouthy teammate.

"Oh fine, none of you are any fun" Snap replied throwing the boot back and turning to begin getting his gear on.

* * *

A red headed woman was in a small office organising equipment such as books, pens, and pictures. She was wearing some large glassed which rested on her slightly freckled nose, her ginger hair fell down to her mid back, she stood at only 5'8 as she hummed a tune to herself.

A knock at the door took her from her humming as she turned to answer it, she opened it to see Colonel Rey Temple wearing the dressed down X-com outfit looking at her meeting her emerald green eyes "Oh hello, how can I help you?" she asked with a soft English accent.

"Oh, hello Ma'am, is this the psychiatrist's office, I'm Colonel Temple I've got an appointment?" The Colonel formally answered making the woman take herself back a moment.

She looked to the left of her door way where there was her appointment schedule and read his name on it "Yes that's here, please come and take a seat wherever you feel comfortable" she said with a sweet smile as he entered.

He nodded and took a seat on a large brown chair, the first thing he noticed was how relaxed the room was, simple light blue walls, a cream coloured carpet and a plastered white ceiling. Her oak wood desk had a laptop placed on it with shelving behind it, below was a few boxes presumably with books to fill the shelves with. Where the colonel was sitting there was a small square table and opposite was a chair matching his, and behind was two long grey sofa's opposite each other with a coffee table in between.

He then noticed the psychiatrist who was sorting through a few folders no doubt trying to find his, she was wearing a sleeveless white flowing shirt and light blue jeans and bizarrely no shoes.

"Ah here we go!" she exclaimed in triumph pulling out the hunted folder then moving to sit opposite the colonel and opening it and quickly scanning through it "Oh I see".

She looked up at the man with a smile "Well Colonel, to start I'm the psychiatrist my names Katie, now the first question I want to ask is how do you feel?".

The Colonel took in a breath "That's hard to describe… I guess the pest way to describe it is perturbed".

"Perturbed you say, why is that?" Katie asked sweetly keeping her smile.

"Well after what I witnessed mere hours ago, I can't shake the look I saw, I've had people die under my command before but the savagery I witnessed… it follows me" he said resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together focusing on them "and earlier, meeting all the new men and women, they all looked so young and just imagining seeing what I saw happen to them… it's difficult to even think about it".

"I see, so does the thought of their deaths want you to not lead them?" Katie asked tapping her to her lips.

"No! Quite the opposite in fact, I want to lead, I feel that with my experience that I'll be able to stop that from happening" he answered truthfully determined to stay as an active X-com member.

Katie hummed and wrote something in the folder the turned her eyes back to the Colonel reading his posture "I see… Colonel I'm going to give you a scenario and I want you to answer it completely truthfully" he nodded in understanding "You're on the battlefield, one of your troops has been critically injured from the claws of the creature you encountered, the creature that caused the attack is crawling away from you defenceless, what will you do?".

"I'd…" the colonel began but was cut off.

"Remember, truthfully Colonel I will know if you're lying" Katie said with a serious look baring into the Colonel.

He took a breath and began "In truth, I'd want to… destroy it, pummel it, make it feel the pain it's caused… but I couldn't, as much as I'd want to hurt that thing, the life of one of my soldiers is more important than anything… I'd always put them before any mission and so I'd get my injured man to safety first".

Katie took a moment and wrote into the folder not taking her eyes away from the paper in front of her "And you'd do this because you'd feel it was right?".

"Not because it was right, but as a sense of duty, I can't… no I won't let anything happen to my team again" The Colonel revealed placing hands onto the table and watching Katie intently.

Katie looked at him, she took her time, studying every action he made, every motion and though about his answer, she looked at the notes she'd written then back to the Colonel. Katie sighed and made one final note action on the page "Colonel, I am happy to clear you for active duty, but I want you to come see me every week for at least a month, I will book in timeslots for you and will get them too you as soon as I can".

The Colonel smiled "Yes Ma'am, thank you!" he stood up and left the room.

Katie let out a sigh and looked at her report again reading over her notes upon the Colonel, she closed the folder and left it on the table as she got back to unpacking all her items continuing her humming song from before considering her choice and making a mental note to had the review over to the Commander.

* * *

The Colonel made his way down the corridor, content he was cleared for active duty, his next task was to get his team ready for battle, he began thinking of the best training exercises to perform and mapping out battle manoeuvres.

As he came to the heavy door of Strike One's room, indicated by a sign on the door, he decided the best course of action was to learn the teams specialist roles, he'd not yet checked the dossiers of his team as there's only so much that the person who wrote them is willing to tell you.

He placed his hand on the handle to the door, "At least I know this team is the best from all over the world" he pulled down and opened the door.

"YOU MOUTHY LITTE SHIT!" a scream echoed out.

The Colonel's eyebrows shot up and eyes opened wide upon looking through the now opened door to see T-rex holding on tightly to Vixen who was trying to desperately trying to get to Snap who had Doc standing with his arm out preventing him from moving though he didn't seem to be planning to.

He'd also noticed Tac on his bed watching with an obvious level of amusement while Data had is head buried into a book trying to shut out the ongoing argument, and finally he noticed Snap and some blood trickling down the side of his mouth.

"LET ME GO T-REX FOR FUCK SAKE!" Vixen screamed but the much larger man responded by picking her up off the floor so she could no longer get any momentum.

"You need to cool of Vixen" T-rex said calmly to he teammate "Stop letting him get under your skin".

"And you need to stop acting unorderly towards your superiors Corporal" Doc said glaring at Snap who smiled in response.

"What, I was just being honest about the size of her massive…" Snap began but was cut off by Doc.

"Just, don't Snap you're pushing your luck!" Doc snapped at the mouthy Englishman.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE!" The Colonel shouted and all the team turned to him with shocked expressions save for one person.

"Well, me and Vixen are having a small disagreement if you hadn't noticed" Snap smiled wiping the blood from his mouth away.

The Colonel marched up to Snap "Do you think you're funny Corporal?" he stood at full height over the Corporal.

"No, I presume sir, I find myself hilarious" Snap chuckled but the Colonel did not find it amusing.

"This is not a game Corporal, what we will do here will shape the future of this planet so we cannot afford to have an idiotic and childish member of the leading team messing around when lives are in danger" The Colonel ordered already having enough of the Corporal.

Snap sighed "Fine, none of you are any fun… I behave".

"Good, but you better start addressing me as sir" The Colonel ordered.

Snap chuckled and patted the Colonel on the shoulder "Baby steps Boss" he said then taking a seat on his bed.

The Colonel sighed "Why were you arguing over anyway?"

"Snap was making comments that a have a massive ego and before that even just making a mockery of everything about me, so I punched him sir" Vixen rattled off happy now an extremely high-ranking officer was there.

"I see, you better both put this behind you, I need you all on the same page if we're going to be an effective team" The Colonel ordered.

"We?" Tac asked joining the conversation.

"Yes, I'm you're commanding officer, I'm Colonel Ray Temple, but you'll address me as sir" he said looking around the room but focusing on Snap.

"But aren't we all meant to go by codenames? What's yours?" surprising T-Rex asked.

"Just sir" The Colonel answered simply.

"Yeah that's fair" Snap commented then gained a sly smirk "How about just simply Boss? Cause that's what I'm gonna call you".

"You'll treat me with more respect Corporal" The Colonel ordered glaring at Snap but then sighed "But I suppose you do have a point, very well just call me Boss as my codename".

The room nodded as Boss headed to the back of the room, grabbed a chair and sat looking at his team "Well you now know me, when I ask I want you're codename and you're speciality, understood" they all nodded.

Boss turned to T-rex "Who're you?"

"Codename's T-Rex, I' best with heavy weapons and Ordinance" the large man answered to a nod from Boss who then looked to Doc.

"I'm Doc, and if you can't guess from the name, I'm the medic" Doc stoically said to the whole team.

Next Boss looked to Tac "I'm Tac, nothing special about me though I guess I'm pretty quiet on the field, just you're standard support rifleman".

Boss then turned to Data who looked nervous "I'm Data… I'm also a standard rifleman… but …I'm also the teams tech and Science expert… I guess" he answered in a nervous German accent while fidgeting with his hands.

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" T-rex asked.

"N…no, well maybe, I'm only 17… but I'm good at my job… I think I am anyway…" he nervously responded.

Boss nodded then to Vixen who braced up to her superior "I'm Lieutenant Vixen, I'm efficient in multiple roles but I'm the best and most efficient with close quarters equipment Sir" she rattled of like a machine.

Boss nodded and turned to the final member of the team as Vixen relaxed again, the brown haired man looked at his team leader from is incredibly relaxed position with a smile "Oh is it me, well I'm Snap as I'm sure all the ladies in the room know" he said winking to Vixen who balled her fists glaring at him "and well, what can I say I'm a specialist with many things, my existence is a pure gift to the world, and my way with words is unmatched…"

"Snap will you please be serious" Boss asked frustrated.

"Oh fine, I'm your sniper, the guy watching you're asses both figuratively and literally" Snap said with a smirk to while Vixen glared to him again.

"Attention, Strike One, Two and Three to report to the Science Lab, Strike One, Two and Three to the Science Lab" the intercom cracked to life.

"Looks like we're up" Doc commented standing up and heading for the door "Lead the way Boss".

"Yes, come on" Boss said leading Strike one out.

* * *

Arriving at the Research Lab, Strike One arrive to see two other teams of 7, standing around a glass structure, they approach and see inside a man in a full hazmat suit with a small grey creature, one of the aliens Boss encountered.

Outside was a white blond woman wearing a white lab coat with some green parts on top and underneath was X-com turtleneck sweater, this was Dr. Vahlen.

"Ah thank you for arriving Strike One, we can begin the autopsy" she said through a German accent.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tac asked the group leaning on the surrounding railing to get a better look.

"Yeah, one of the aliens that arrived" Boss confirmed as Dr. Vahlen entered the autopsy room in her own hazmat suit with a notepad and signalled the other man in a hazmat to begin.

He nodded and turned to a selection of tools need to him and selected a simple scalpel and begun by cutting open the chest of the creature.

Boss watched the autopsy begin, he'd studied the creature on the autopsy table and noticed its claws were slightly bloodstained, a small smirk came to his lips slightly content that the creature that brutally murdered on of his men was the one being sliced open right now.

"Upon first inspection these creature don't look extremely threatening, but that is not the case, as witnessed in the field these creatures dubbed 'Sectoid' can be extremely savage, the claws are extremely sharp and can cut through human flesh with ease" Vahlen noted to the gathered crowd of frontline soldiers.

The man autopsying had pulling the insides out and begun to cut open the head "The insides of the Sectoid appear to have a few nonorganic components, no doubt to help improve its battle capability due to it weak body frame".

As the man pulled out the creatures brain, Vahlen was amazed at the amount of cybernetic implants merged with the brain while the crowds was confused at the sheer size of such a fragile creatures brain "I was hoping it just had a big bulky skull but, it's just a massive thing" T-Rex commented as the rest of the team nodded.

"The subject's brain is quite sizable with respect to its body, and appears to have been augmented even further with many cybernetic implants of some kind, we will have to get these to Dr. Shen and the engineering team as they'll be the best at understanding what the exactly do" Vahlen listed making more notes "This large brain and heavy modification may explain the levels of telepathic ability these creatures have…".

The gathered strike teams were shocked at what they had seen "So that's what we'll be fighting" a Spanish voice said from the crowd.

"Damn, is this all they have or are there more aliens we haven't seen yet?" A French voice asked.

"Well from my view, I'll be able to get a great shot on these little bastards" Snap joked "that head is almost impossible to miss".

"Just a head's up, these things are fast, when I engaged them, one second they were they, they next one of my guys was down" Boss revealed to the crowd who all made a mental note of it.

Vahlen turned to the crowd outside "Now troops, try to remember what you've learned from about the Sectoid to help you in battle. When all possible data has been gathered on the Sectoid I will post it on the database for you to access in you assigned quarters" she revealed, and the troops nodded now heading back to their quarters.

* * *

A few hours later, Commander Orion was in his quarters reading through the autopsy report he'd just received from Dr. Vahlen, taking particular note of the fact each one of the Sectoid's were 'perfect genetic copies'.

A knock at his door took him from his reading "It's open" the redheaded Psychiatrist entered the room now wearing shoes and smiled to the Commander "Ah Katie, how can I help you?".

"I thought I'd bring you Colonel Ray's report, you'll be delighted to know he's been cleared for duty under the guise he still visits me for a while" she said handing Orion the report "But you'll want to read my views on him".

Orion set down Vahlen's report and took Katie's one and began to read it "You really think this?" he asked looked up at her with a quizzical expression.

"Yes, I do commander, it is a common case for troops who lose entire teams they were in command of, it's not too serious but please keep tabs on him in the field" she replied gaining a serious expression.

The Commander nodded "Understood, you know best when it comes to a soldiers wellbeing, so I trust your judgment".

"Thank you, Commander," Katie said leaving the room.

Orion read through the report on more time and sighed before setting it down on his desk and rubbing his eyes, out of the corner of his eye he saw his bed and for a brief moment debated a nap till this was interrupted but and alert through the base.

"Alert, Alien Activity detected, Strike One to the Situation room. Alert, Alien Activity detected, Strike One to the Situation room" it repeated as the Commander shot up and ran to the room.

* * *

**The end of Chapter Two, the next chapter with be Strike One's first mission together, I'll get it out as soon as I can. Please feel free to review, good or bad it's all feedback that'll help me improve. Thank you. **


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